Assam: Senior IPS officer held for leaking probe info

Rajamarthandan moved the Supreme Court for bail after his plea was rejected by the trial court in Kamrup and Guwahati high court.(HT representative Photo)

A senior police officer in Assam is behind bars for allegedly fabricating an RTI application on behalf of an advocate and divulging “confidential” information relating to a pending probe he headed.

IPS officer N Rahamarthandan headed the State’s CID as its senior superintendent police (SSP). He is facing serious charges under the Official Secrets Act for revealing details of the report that pertained to a rioting incident by members of an organisation called Nikhil Bharat Bangali Ubastu Samanvay Samiti(NIBBUS) demanding citizenship for Hindu Bangladeshis. A case of forgery has also been lodged against him.

Rajamarthandan moved the Supreme Court for bail after his plea was rejected by the trial court in Kamrup and Guwahati high court.

A vacation bench headed by Justice M Shantanagoudar asked the Assam government, which lodged the criminal case, to respond by June 19.

The rioting incident was reported on March 3, 2017. Local police arrested around 60 people after which the state constituted a SIT under Rajamarthandan’s leadership.

The team stated in a progress report on March 19 that there was no direct evidence against many arrested people and others named in the FIR.

Rajamarthadan said the report was given to an advocate after she applied under the RTI Act. The lawyer then filed a case before the HC demanding the release of the arrested. But, the state accused the officer of forging the RTI application and said he shared the inquiry report with her through “whatsapp.”